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Classroom Update: 10/17/16

Hello everyone! Well the last two weeks have been entirely packed with fun and so much information. And that doesn’t include just inside the walls of my classroom, as it was Spirit Week last week! It was so much fun to see everyone celebrating their school spirit with the featured days. Even this teacher joined in. Who doesn’t love dressing up in themes for school! However, you may be wondering, what EXACTLY has been happening in our class? Here’s a look!

Western Civ

We have now moved on from the days of early man and Hammurabi, and have ventured into the more civilized world of Ancient Greece! Not only did we look at the geography of Greece as a whole, but more importantly, how that impacted the way the ancient Greeks lived. Water became very important we found out. After this, we moved on to Mythology, and took a better look at the meaning of myths and why they were created. We started with the Minotaur and went all the way to the Odyssey and Iliad to learn more about the thought processes of the Greeks, and how they looked at life and heroes. Finally, we made some WANTED posters for the Greek Gods and Goddess, which showed us they weren’t as nice as they were cracked up to be. From here we are now moving on the civilizations of Sparta and Athens, and then we will begin making our own city-states! Make sure to ask your student all about Sparta vs. Athens, and which city they would rather live in. Their answer may surprise you!

A few examples of the Wanted posters hanging in the class. Check out the rewards!

Global Studies

What haven’t we learned so far?! We have just wrapped up learning about the religion of Islam, from it’s beginnings, the Five Pillars and the community. Now, we have now begun to take a look at the Arab/Israeli Crisis, which is full of information. Although a current issue, the students and I took a look way back in history. All the way, in fact, to the foundation of Judaism to really understand exactly why Israel is such a sought over piece of land. From the times of Abraham, all the way to modern day, we took a journey through the history of the Jewish people, to understand why they wanted this land. Now we are looking at the crisis in modern day times, starting with the establishment of the country of Israel (before that, known as Palestine). Students will be taking the wheel of the classroom next, as they create a presentation with groups on one of the several major wars/conflicts that happened during this time. They will teach they class everything they know, and open our eyes to why this land is still so torn today.

Comparative Religions

We have now moved on from Judaism, and have jumped head first into the religion of Christianity. At the start we explained the meaning of the Holy Trinity and how one is all and all is one. (Confused? So were the students. But ask them about it. They can explain it now!) We have learned about the history of Jesus, and what he preached, as well as how he connected to those around him in a different way than earlier prophets. From there we moved on to symbols, explaining what each one meant and how it connects to the religion as a whole. We have also looked into some other interesting facts, such as the foundations of the date of Christmas and Easter, to the Infancy Gospels of Jesus (Which were never put in the Bible…for a reason). Now those were an interesting read! From here we will be moving on towards the end of this unit and into the world of the youngest monotheistic religion, Islam. What similarities might we find between this religion and Judaism and Christianity? Stay tuned!